Déjà Vu For Medvedev In Cincinnati

Another week, another win for Russian No. 1 Daniil Medvedev against Brit Kyle Edmund. The ninth seed maintained his strong form on Tuesday, ousting Edmund 6-2, 7-5 after one hour and 19 minutes to reach the second round of the Western & Southern Open.

The World No. 8 enjoyed one of the best tournaments of his career last week in Montreal, making his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Coupe Rogers, propelling him to his career-high ATP Ranking. He also finished runner-up the week before that at the Citi Open.

“It was a bit tough physically, but I still played great tennis,” said Medvedev. “I could have won a bit easier, but Kyle stepped it up in the second set. These first rounds usually help you get into the tournament, so hopefully I can play even better tomorrow.”

In Canada, Medvedev eased past Edmund 6-3, 6-0 in just 59 minutes. But it was a more complicated match for the four-time ATP Tour titlist in Cincinnati. Edmund led 5-3 in the second set and he served to force a decider. But Medvedev battled hard to win the final four games of the match.

One year ago, Medvedev was forced to qualify for this tournament, as he was World No. 56, and the Russian lost in the first round of the main draw. But this season, Medvedev is pushing for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in London, entering the week placed sixth in the ATP Race To London.

American Reilly Opelka walked on court Tuesday trailing No. 12 seed Borna Coric 3-4 in the final set of their first-round match. But the wild card quickly turned the tides and eliminated the Croat 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 after two hours and 18 minutes over the course of two days.

Opelka, who claimed his maiden ATP Tour title at the New York Open in February, will next play #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur, whom he lost to in the semi-finals of July’s BB&T Atlanta Open.

The 6’11” right-hander’s good friend, Taylor Fritz, was not as fortunate. No. 16 seed David Goffin ousted the American 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 after two hours and 25 minutes. The Belgian will try to avenge his loss from last week in Montreal when he faced Argentine Guido Pella next.

Los Cabos titlist Diego Schwartzman won 50 per cent of his return points en route to a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory against Rio de Janeiro champion Laslo Djere. The Argentine will battle Moldovan Radu Albot, who upset Marin Cilic on Monday.

In other action, Frenchman Benoit Paire advanced to the second round after taking a 6-4 lead when Spaniard Fernando Verdasco retired.

Did You Know?
Medvedev leads the ATP Tour in 2019 with 26 wins on hard courts according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone. The 23-year-old is six victories clear of the second-ranked player on the list, Stefanos Tsitsipas.